


Let's Love Like There's No Goodbyes

by dls



Series: Post-Endgame Ficlets [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dark, F/M, Not A Fix-It, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-18 14:46:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18701734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dls/pseuds/dls
Summary: There was only ever one Captain America.





	Let's Love Like There's No Goodbyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [silvermuse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvermuse/gifts).



> I was chatting with [silvermuse](https://archiveofourown.org/comments/224315572) about my darker take on what happens at the end of Endgame; namely, Steve's supposedly "happy ending" at the expense of everyone else. Especially 1940s!Steve because somehow 2023!Steve ended up with his girl and his shield...?
> 
> Any Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter references are from the internet as I don't watch either of those shows. 
> 
> Brit-picked by [LadyVader](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyVader/pseuds/LadyVader).  
> Beta-ed by [Arboreal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arboreal/pseuds/Arboreal).
> 
> References/Quotes:   
>  Title from "No Goodbyes" by Dua Lipa.   
>  _Captain America: First Avenger_. _Agents of SHIELD_. _Avengers: Age of Ultron_. _Agent Carter_. _Avengers: Endgame_.

**February 5th, 1945**

"I'm going to need a rain check on that dance."

"Alright." Peggy agreed with a strained lightheartedness. "A week, next Saturday, at the Stork Club."

Steve's chuckle crackled through the speakers, into fragments that carried no joy. "You got it."

"Eight o'clock on the dot." She cleared her throat, pushing down the sob clawing its way out. "Don't you dare be late. Understood?"

"You know, I still don't know how to dance."

Peggy felt a rush of fondness for this man who refused to make a promise that he couldn't keep, even as they carried on this hopeful charade. "I'll show you how. Just be there."

"We'll have the band play something slow. I'd hate to step on your-" His words faded in a rush of roaring water.

"Steve?" The tears fell then, as did the pieces of her heart. "Steve? Steve!"

 

**February 16th, 1945**

Pivoting lightly on the ball of her foot, Peggy dodged the drunken couple who had stumbled out of the Stork Club.

Music and laughter filtered through the opened doors like an invitation. She kept walking.

 

**March 2nd, 1945**

"This is the last HYDRA site we know of. They're finally beaten." Peggy winced at the wistful note in her voice. This should be a time for celebrating but she found no joy in another ending.

"You don't sound thrilled." Dugan pointed out, perceptive despite his rough demeanor.  

"Well, these things can't simply be boxed up."

 

**April 9th, 1945**

Peggy wished for an end to the war as she blew out the candles on her birthday cake.

It was better to wish for practical and possible things than the fanciful and improbable. She resolutely did not think of a certain American boy with brilliant blue eyes with a tiniest bit of green in them.  

 

**May 8th, 1945**

With Germany's surrender, the Strategic Scientific Reserve in London was to be disbanded.

Apparently, some things could be boxed up.

"Agent Carter."

Peggy glanced up, sliding on a mask of stoic professionalism. Emotional displays tended not to win her any respect among her colleagues. "Colonel Phillips."

"I thought you'd like this." He handed her a single folder, nodded once, then walked away as briskly as he had appeared by her door.

Her fingers trembled as she opened the file.  Even knowing what it held did not prepare her for the sight of Steve's face, skinny but just as stubborn, staring up at her.

If tears happened to fall and splatter on the photo, then at least no one was around to see it.

She was utterly alone.

 

**July 20th, 1945**

"We found him." Howard's voice, stunned by his luck and smug of his persistence, crackled through the telephone. "We found Captain America."

Peggy rushed out of the office and got on the first flight to Greenland with her purse in hand and her heart in her throat.

 

**July 21st, 1945**

"You're late." Peggy said, choking out the words through giddy sobs. "It's been over five months."

"Better than seventy years." Steve kissed away her tears, bold in the way that only a man who had conquered death could be.

She dismissed the oddness in his specific wording, understanding the sentiment underneath them all too well.

Better late than never.

 

**July 24th, 1945**

The Steve who came out of the ice was not quite the same as the Steve she remembered.

Instead of the ramrod posture that showcased his new physique, his shoulders slouched slightly like it had already been a long day. Instead of the smooth golden skin across his forehead and cheeks, there were fine lines of age. Instead of the almost naive hopefulness, there was a hardened pragmatism that rivaled hers.

Peggy chastised herself for being so bloody critical.

Steve hadn’t changed. Her memories had just been compromised by grief, tinged by regret, and colored by lost love. Absence made the heart fonder, so the saying went, and what mattered was that her heart was still fond of this man who found his way back to her.

She shouldn't push him away.

 

**July 30th, 1945**

"I'm glad it's not seventy years." Peggy immediately regretted saying anything when Steve tensed yet she couldn't seem to stop herself. "I, I only meant that I can't imagine what a shock it must be to wake up and find everyone-"

"I don't have to." He caught her gaze. "We don't have to."

Right, of course. There was no point to torment themselves with what-ifs, she was just being morbid. "Lucky us."

 

**August 3rd, 1945**

Steve groaned as the short film started. "I don't want to see this."

"This is my favorite part." Resting her chin on his shoulder, Peggy whispered into his ear and giggled when the tip of it turned red.

On the screen was a reenactment of Captain America's miraculous return, featuring a man in the iconic red, white, and blue outfit breaking through a thick layer of ice with the equally iconic shield.

"I'll get you some popcorn." Steve offered, squirming adorably at both Peggy's proximity and the exaggerated acting.

Peggy brushed a kiss against his jaw. "I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"Fine by me." Steve pressed his face into her hair.

"Where am I?" Captain America boomed. " _When am I?_ "

The audience cheered.

Steve pulled away reluctantly when the feature film started but Peggy kept her head tucked into the bend of his neck.

 

**August 9th, 1945**

United States detonated a second nuclear weapon in Japan.

Peggy closed her eyes. Despite her petite stature, she had never felt small. Until now.

How had it come to this?

She didn't realize she had spoken her thoughts out loud until Steve wrapped his arms around her, his voice a rumble in her ear.

"So we can end the fight." He was a solid warmth against her side, a pillar of support, engulfing her in one his all-encompassing hugs that she loved. "So we get to go home."

 

**October 13, 1945**

Steve took meticulous care of the shield, despite Howard's assurances that Vibranium was near-indestructible and required no upkeep.

What Howard didn't understand was that it wasn't just a weapon to Steve. It was something like a friend.

Peggy had caught Steve staring at the gleaming metal, tracing the circular patterns and splaying his hand over the star in the center, like he couldn't quite believe it had survived the war.

Or, maybe, that he had.

 

**November 13, 1945**

Peggy clenched her jaw as she stepped out into the street, the cold piercing through her layers and seeping into her bones.

A second later, Steve's jacket was being draped across her shoulders.

She had meant to thank him for the gesture but what came out was something entirely different. "I'm glad you're not in the ice anymore."

"Me too." Steve smiled. "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

 

**December 25th, 1945**

The ring was as beautiful as the snowy landscape of Brooklyn.

 

**March 4th, 1946**

Flynn sounded almost proud when he accepted her resignation, commending her for making the right choice in staying home.

Peggy would have punched him in the face but Steve was holding her hand.

 

**March 10, 1946**

Today was Bucky's 29th birthday.

Not would have been, _was_.

Because Bucky's body was never found and therefore never classified as deceased. He was officially listed as _missing in action_ , like he could be found one day.

Peggy wondered if such hope was a cruelty or a kindness.

"Bucky will be okay." Steve stated like it was a fact; perhaps his faith wasn't so far-fetched considering that he had come back to Peggy.

She tried to believe too.

 

**April 25th, 1946**

Howard sent over a prototype of a device that was supposed to allow its users to receive telephone calls from automobiles.

While Peggy struggled to wrap her mind around it, Steve had understood the concept with no difficulty. He was surprisingly intuitive with technology.

 

**June 7th, 1946**

The winds whipped around them, tasting of salt and snow.

Peggy's eyes stung as she stared out into the Arctic Ocean. When a ray of sunlight glinted down at the right angle, she could almost see flashes of red, white, and blue beneath the ice.

Steve had said that it was important that they come here, to remember the sacrifices made and rewards earned.

Turning her back to the waters that had once stolen her love, she listened to Steve's heartbeat and blocked out the sound of waves.

 

**June 23rd, 1946**

"You may kiss your bride."

Steve cupped her face with both hands and pulled her into a kiss that felt like coming home, inviting and warm and unhurried.

Like they had the rest of their lives.

"My Steve." She exhaled against his lips when they parted for air and decorum.

Though, judging by the thunderous applause from the large crowd of family and friends and fans gathered in the church, no one minded their extended display of affection.

Steve looked stunned, eyes wide and breath held and spine stiff. As if he were steeling himself for fate to punch him in the stomach and steal all of his good fortune. The same way he always got whenever she called him hers.

Silently, she vowed that she would do her very best to erase that doubt, starting with a timely reminder. "My husband."

The new title snapped Steve out of his temporary daze. "My Peggy." He murmured. "My wife."

 

**July 4th, 1947**

Peggy presented the cake with a flourish unbefitting of her proper upbringing, too light and happy these days to care much for propriety. "Make a wish, husband mine."

Steve's handsome face glowed with sincerity in the candlelight. "I've got everything I want right here." 

**Author's Note:**

> [dls-ao3.tumblr.com](https://dls-ao3.tumblr.com/)


End file.
